Gig Review: The Mark of Cain + Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs + Chimers at the Metro, Sydney

Live review: The Mark Of Cain, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and Chimers at The Metro Theatre, Sydney, Friday, December 15 2023

By CORIN SHEARSTON

WIDELY credited for being the first group to nationally represent Adelaide’s heavy underground rock scene nearly 30 years ago, The Mark Of Cain can still gather the masses. Upon the release of their groundbreaking third album Ill At Ease in 1995, 11 years after their formation, The Mark Of Cain presented themselves as a dark, confrontational juggernaut of riff, volume and muscle.

Now with 11 singles, five albums, two live albums, two EPs, and two compilations – including the remixed, deluxe version of Ill At Ease, (with added snare heft and their first live album, the sweaty Livid Live ’96 live EP as a companion piece) – under their belts, the Scotts and Green played all 10 songs from Ill At Ease at The Metro Theatre.

A recent support act for cult Sydney noise-blues rockers feedtime, at the Marrickville Bowlo in September, Chimers’ duo Padriac (guitar-vocals) and Binx (drums) took the cavernous walls of the Metro in their stride to open the night. Thus, it’s clear to see that their reputation is steadily growing. Chimers were still able to instil their urgent, in-your-face musical sensibilities to the small throng which had arrived early,  just with more echo, and a much larger room sound. “Ask our drummer anything”, called out Padraic during a brief pause, before someone yelled back “Is the world flat?” No comment.

Having just passed the milestone of spending one decade together before playing in Australia for the first time, the slightly-younger Pigs x 7 maintained their reputation as an explosive live act. An eclectic five-piece of English chaps, they apparently claim major inspiration from Motörhead, Melvins and The Stooges. Apart from sharing the same level of volume and guitar filth as the aforementioned groups of Lemmy and Buzz, with authentic elements of psychedelia echoing back to Kilmister’s previous group, Hawkwind, they still sound wildly different from these acts.

That being said, the prowling and posturing of their athletic moustachioed frontman-synth player Matthew Baty conjured up energetic glimpses of Iggy Pop, with Freddy Mercury’s facial hair, or a crazed drill instructor biting a microphone lead. Baty’s wide, flexing stances visualise the deep muscle of Pigs x 7’s gigantic sound, achieved through two fridge-sized Orange amps with phat bass. Baty made sure to complement his band’s cascading tonal drops in riff through crouching in their lower chords and stretching upwards in their higher-pitched low chords, while bellowing with similar guttural tones to those of a Tuvan throat singer, but with more clenched facial strain. “We’re Britain’s best or worst family-friendly Queen tribute band,” he explained, before announcing that the group will launch into a rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” – which actually turned out to be the track “Ultimate Hammer”, opener of their latest album, Land Of Sleeper. John Scott describes their 2020 track “Rubbernecker” as an “ear worm”.

Priding themselves on the purely cathartic immensity of their dual-guitar, amp-worship approach, achieved by Adam Ian Sykes and Sam Grant, drummer Ewan Mackenzie’s steadfast rhythmic propulsion and the seismic bass rumble of John-Michael Joseph Hedley, Pigs x 7 are a live act to be reckoned with. In fact, their brutal, doom-laden actions sent my body into a frenzy of uplifting movement which results in Baty calling me “headbanger of the night” and “unhinged” over the Metro’s PA, before meeting me after he walks down from the stage to gift me with a free Pigs x 7 t-shirt from their merch table as a token of gratitude. “I love your energy”, I remark. “Have a safe flight home”.

While Pigs x 7 appear to be fuelled by cold beer, The Mark Of Cain are assisted by cool orange Gatorade. John and Kim Scott are elder statesmen of the confrontational, volume-boosted riff, enhanced by Eli Green’s youthful percussive pummelling. Despite blazing a trail of toughness through the national rock scenes of the eighties, nineties, ‘noughties’ and on to the present day, The Mark Of Cain never performed Ill At Ease in its entirety until 2023.

They did so for the third time ever on this night, the third date on their seven-date tour, which ends in Hobart on January 20. As a refreshing change for fans, they mixed up the album’s order in their live set. Their 16-song set also contained a five-song encore comprised of songs from Battlesick, The Unclaimed Prize and This Is This, which went down a treat with the excitable masses who cheered for more, despite John Scott’s wise absence of verbal hype-mongering. Quoting Marlon Brando in 1954’s “On The Waterfront”, Scott’s gruff, recognisable bark cut through the room, conveying how he “could’ve been a contender” in ‘The Contender’, but matching the slightly-gentler, expansive tones of “LMA (Little Miss Australia)” with calmer vocals. Both are standout songs from Ill At Ease – the album erupting into life with “Interloper”, a very exciting track to begin their Metro set with.

TMOC’s matching short-sleeved black button up shirts further enhanced the militaristic mercilessness of the trio’s sound, while Eli Green’s hardened drumming approach firmly maintained their momentum. Green exhibited the amount of sheer energy needed to play the hardcore metalcore stylings of his other band, Life Pilot, which suited TMOC’s brute force perfectly. Although most of The Metro’s crowd were surprisingly restrained during the earlier sets, a small mosh pit broke out for The Mark Of Cain, while one wild punter was even able to do some crowdsurfing.

The Mark Of Cain were originally planning to hit the road in 2020 to revive Ill At Ease on stages across the country, but COVID got in the way. In early September 2023, the avid cycling of bassist Kim Scott presented unfortunate consequences yet again, when he accidentally rode into the back of a car driven by a careless driver and was forced to wear a pelvic brace. This subsequently cancelled TMOC’s appearances at Newcastle and Sydney’s Off The Rails punk and alt-rock festivals, so their triumphant live return at The Metro proved that good things can still come to those who wait. Kim Scott has hung up his helmet for good, sadly, and was still seen to be limping across the theatre’s large stage, but is steadily improving.

While the lives of the members have naturally had their ups and downs, the trademark tightness, loudness and confrontational approach of The Mark Of Cain has never gone away.

Image: Rod Hunt